Shoe rack and method of making it



H. L. GLIDDEN; SHOE RACK AND METHOD 0F MAKING IT. APPUCATION FILED DEC. 15| 1916.

1,419,250. Patented June 13, 1922'.

HARVEY L. GLIDDEN, OF NEEDHAIVL MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- IMENTS, T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPRATICN, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY,

A CORPORATION OF `NEW JERSEY.

tSHOE RACK AND IvTETHD 0E MAKING IT.

figli SLi/Tali@.

To all i/i'zmn if mag/f concern.'

lle it known that le HARVEY L. GLIDDEN, a citizen of the lllnited States, residing at leedhamn in the county of Norfolk and State of li'lassacluisetts haveinrented certain improvements in Shoe Hacks and ii' tiods o lVlaking Them, of which the lollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings. a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indirating like parts in the several ligures. n

'lhis invention relates to racks andin particular to racks used in shoe factories for transporting 'iinlii'iislied shoes from one place to another.

Sho-c racks are `a source of considerable trouble and expense. They are frequently made of wood because this material is light am ,ecausc racks made from it are compara` y che: i, @i disadvantage in the use ot such rnc arises from the fact that the atmosphere in shoe factories varies greatly fromrocinto roonrand from season to season in regard to dampness and tempeinturef and wooden racks shrink and swell. and soon become rickety7 and loose at they joints. Their performance under these eouditifnis is unsatisfactory and it is frequently necessary to repair them which entails considerable expenditure. Racks ni e oi metal are not subject to these objections but their expense prevents their use in many factories. Combined wood and metal V'acks hare been proposed7 but prior to the present invention did not go into general use owing` to the fact that they were so constructedA that any impairment of the ri .dity of the wooden structure caused loss Y dity of the whole.

Another objection to the use of wooden .ffhoe racks is the difficulty of replacing a broken member. These racks frequently contain shelves made of dowel rods in order to sare material and insure lightness, and these dowel rods are frequently broken. The replacement of a single broken rod often involves disniounting the entire rack which ineens a loss of considerable time and the incurring of substantial expense.

Shoe racks are also frequently injured in their lower portions below the shelves. Thev are propelled over rough floors at con- ,=ideiable rates of speed and undergo a vgood many collisions with low lying objects,

Specification of Letters Patent. PaJ-i'ggntgd June 13, 1922 Application filed December 15, 19126.

Serial No. 137,157.

posts,` walls and otherracks and the lower nuain frame portions,l especially the-meinbers carrying their casterst which receive a great many shocks, are frequently broken. The repair of a wooden rack which has been damaged in this way is quite an expensive matter since it often involves the building of a new frame for it and this entails a substantial fraction ofthe cost of building an entire new rack.

My invention contemplates the provision of a rack having an entirely self supporting` metal/frame in which the shelf members are confined. ln the rack shown in the drawing which embodies an important part of the invention, the shelf members take no part whatsoever in the bonding of the rack7 being simply confined by the frame. lhe shrinking and s veiling of the materials of which these members are made can therefore not affect the stability and stiffness el the rack. ny looseness due to shrinkage will merely cause a slight rattling of the shelf members themselvesbut will en tail no weakness of the rack as a whole.

in this respect the invention contemplates not only the building of new racks having the characteristics noted, but also an improvement in the art of making racks which is exemplified in the making of a rack such as previously described and which permits the utilization as shelf structure of i'mrts of damaged wooden racks which would otherwise in many cases be wasted since badly namaged wooden racks are either thrown away or are repaired at substantial expense only to be badly damaged again after relatively short use owing to the easily broken and unprotected wooden structure. rlhe shelf members of wooden racks generally last longer than the base portions, and l 'shall show how those re maining parts may be used to produce a rack which is better than the original wooden one and which costs much less than the. new metal one to which it is practically equivalent.

Accordingly an important feature of the invention consists in a rack having a metal frame' comprising base and end portions, w ith the end portions rigidly interconnected by a combined strut and tie memberfthus forming a completely rigid and self-supcomprising interconnected Wooden corner.'

verticals supported and nesting inthe nwardly fz'icing channels of the metal angle bar verticals.

it. further important feature of my inven tion is shelf which permits the replacement of broken doivels or slats without loss oi time or labor in taking the rack apart.`

This shell has a slat supporting member, and a second member tor holding the slat or dowel in position on the supporting member, and removable to permit the removal or insertion of the slat.

The drawings show a preferred form of rack which illustrates the practice of my invention and clearly shows the above described and other advantages which may be realized trom the invention. The invention and its advantages will be more fully described in connection with the rack shown, and will be then defined in the appended claims.` 4

- ln the drawings,

Fig. l is a perspective view of the rack; parts being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a view of the end member of a novel shelf;

Figs. 3 and 4 are details showing modes of attachment of the upper steel frame member. The base of the rack is formed by parallel angle irons l0 and 12 connected by cross bracing 14. Suitable casters 1G are mounted upon the base and a bumper 1S is mounted at each corner for the purpose of guiding the rack away 'from posts or other objects With which it may come in contact. A vertical angle iron 2O is mounted at each corner of the base and these four vertical angle irons are braced to the base and to one another by the diagonals 22 and 24respectively. The angle irons at the ends of the 'trame are joined by tubular members 26 which are.

'slotted to receive a flange of each angle iron.

rin upper cross member comprising, in the rack shown. two end angles 28 and 30 and a longitudinal angle 32 braced to the angles 28 and 30 by diagonals 34 and 3G respectively connects the two vertical angles at one end of the trame with those at the other. This cross member may be `attached in various ways, ot' which tivo are shown. The end member 28 is shown abutting upon the verticals 20 from the inside and clamped thereto by a bolt 38. The end member 30 is shown abutting its pair of verticals 2() from the outside and clamped to them by a corresponding bolt 40. The metal frame thus far described is selt contained and is perfectlyr rigid., since the memberu32 acts both as a tie and as a strut. t will not be affected in any Way by atmospheric conditions. rlhe brace structure 28,` 30, 32 holds the end frames rigidly against horizontal distortion by virtue of the brace 34, 36, and against vertical distortion by virtue of the substantial vertical extent of the engagement between the members 28 and 30 and the corner rerticals. Thestrut-and-tie member 32 is rigidly fastened to the end frames, and resists any stress tending to move it out of perpendicularity to the end frames.

Each vertical 20 carries a little'angle 42 for* supporting the shelves or the rack. These shelves which, taken collectively with their spacing members, il' such are present, may be called the liller, may be made as is customary in shoe racks. In the rack shown four wooden verticals 44, nesting in the angles of the verticals 20, and resting upon the angles 42, form the corner members for spacing and supporting the` shelves. One practical construction or' shelil is shown in the upper part of Fig. yl. The members 44 are slotted to receive the side members 46 and end members 48 of the shelt and the end members are bored part Way through to receive the dotvels or slats 50 which extend also through holes bored in the cross-brace 5l. A tie rod 53 rests in a slot in the member 5l and holds the members 46 and 5l in close contact.

A shelf embodying an important feature ot my invention is shown in the lower part oi'.2 Fig. l and a detail thereof is shown in Fig. 2. The shelf already described has the disadvantage that` the replacement ot a broken dowel, even it the brace 5l be absent, necessitates taking the rack apart, since an attempt to spring the doivel into place Otten breaks it. l have shown in the lower shelf how this difficulty may be avoided. @ne end member oit' the shelf is made in two parts 52, and 54, the latter of which fits in a rabbet 56 made in the former. The angle made `by the rabbet in the part 52 is acute so that I it is impossible to slide the'mcmber 54 avvay from themember 52 by a purely horizontal movement lengthwise of the shell. A. spring latch 58 in the member 54 coacts with a bushl ing 60 in the member 52 to hold the member 54 against vertical movement relative to the member 52. lt will be seen that the member 54 cannot be moved away from the member 52 Without pressing` back the spring latch 58 since the latch holds it against vertical movement and the acute angle 56 holds it i against horizontal movement. A number of holes 62 are bored horizontally in the combined members 52, 54 to a depth equaling the thickness of the member 54 and so that` Cir they are half in the member 54 and half in the member 52. T he end member 53 at the other end of the shelf may be made as usual, having correspondingly arranged holes bored part way through it. ln order to replace a broken dowel it is only necessary to press back the latch 58, lift the member 54, insert the new dowel in place and replace the member 54, allowing the latch 58 to spring back into place. The members 44 are cut away as at (51 to facilitate removal of the element 54.

ln a shelfl formed entirely of dowels the dowels G8 at the edges of the shelf are gen erally made larger than those in the interior and are frequently placed at a slight eleva tion in order to preventspilling the contents. .lf desired the member 54 may be so shaped at its lower edge that the joint between it and the member 52 passes through the holes occupied by these outside dowels, as above described.` l prefer, however, to run this joint straight across, for the sake of economy in construction, and tobore the holes for these outside dowels as shown in Fig. 1. New outside dowels may be inserted by lifting the member 54e upward entirely away from its adjacent member 52, which will lengthen the distance between the opposite end members of the shelf and allow the dowels to be removed or replaced. The initial movement of the bar 54e will slide it in` ward over the dowels, but as soon as it has been raised to a suiiicient height the dowels can be removed easily.

An inspection of Fig. 3 shows that the wooden vertical da does not entirely fill the space in the interior of the angle 2O so that the member 2S does not come in contact with it at all. The member 30 v,being entirely outside the rack is of course not in contact with the wooden verticals 14h The bolts 38 and el() are inserted through ample sized holes in the members 4A. and there is no positive bonding between the filler and the steel frame.

This feature is of considerable importance. The steel frame, as has been remarked, is entirely self supporting. It iscontemplated that the length of the member 32 will be so adjusted as to hold the pairs of verticals 20 relative to each other so as to effect `a substantial lit of the interior wooden frame between the verticals at the vends of the rack. The wooden members of the rack are simply supported upon the little shelves l2 and con lined between the corner angle irons but are not positively bolted to any portion of the steel frame The tubular members 26 vproject inwardlff over thespaceincluded loetween the concave sides of the corner angle irons 20. and limit the upward movement of the liller in case it should become loose. The corner angle irons limit the movement of the filler in four of the siX possible directions, and the members 4t2 and 26 limit it in the other two. All of these limitations of movement are by abutting contact and are independent of any bonding means loetween the metal and the wood. The shrinkin i' and swelling of the wood which is inevitable in the atmospheric conditions which prevail in shoe factories, will therefore have no effect whatever upon the stiffness and strength of the rack as a whole. The steel frame will always be perfectly rigid and evenif the wooden members shrink to such an extent that they become very loose, the stability of the rack will not be affected. The omission of positive bonding between the metal and wooden partsof the rack actuallyidiminishes the diiculty due to shrinking and swelling. The rigid bonding of two materials having dissimilar reactions to the conditions to which they are to be subjected is always to be avoided, and in the rack shown-the wood can come and go in its own way under changing atmospheric conditions, and there is no tendency for the comparatively unvarying steel to pull the filler apart.

rlhis construction is superior to heretofore used constructions in respect to the protection afforded to th wooden filler. If a rack the wood filler of which is'bonded to its frame receives a severe shock, the resilient yielding of the frame under the shock will tear loose the fastenings between the filler members and the frame and will strain and damage the filler. In a rack made according to my invention a shock to the steel frame, unless so severe as to deform the frame, will not injure the liller, since the only stresses which the frame can exert on the filler are compressive, and a wooden structure resists such stresses well. These stresses are small at any one point, owing to the extended area of contact between the frame and filler. In a combined steel and wood rack built in accordance with the practice prevailing before the present invention, great stresses are localized at the points where the frame is fastened to the filler, and also at all the joints of the filler. The situation of the filler in the rack of the present invention much resembles that of the wooden drawers in a steel safe.

The novel method of constructing racks herein disclosed is an important aspect of the invention. The steel frame, except the strut-and-tie member, is erected in position, and the wooden parts are separately assembled and may be held in assembled relation merely by a few lorads. rlhe 'assembled wooden part-s are then dropped down in between the metal corner verticale of the end frames (which canbe sprung apart slightly at the ytop to facilitate this operation), and the strut-andthe member is then put inplace, firmly holding the steed frame in position, the said frame confining kand `maintaining the wooden parts in proper relation to `one another. rlhe assembly of the rack is thus rendered very simple andrapid. The racks may be stored or shipped in knocked-down form, with the metal trames folded and the wooden fillers separated into their component shelves and other' parts, and when needed they may be easily assembled by any unskilled person. l y

The old style steel-and-wood rack, in which the wooden shelves were separate members inserted in the frame, required very considerable time and skill in its assembly, as it necessitated an number of operations and it was exceedingly difficult to leep the previously inserted shelves in position while inserting another one. y l

- .lt is quite important to observe that wooden shoe racks which have been dainaged in their lower1 portions may be economically utilized as tillers7 in building a raclr in accordance with the improvementin the art ol making racks contemplated by this invention and this novel method olf building a rack, or in the present instance, of what may be termed rebuilding adamaged wooden rack, will now be described. It 'frequently happens that the base members oi a rack are broken or split by runniglinto low obstructions not visible to the person who is propelling the rack, or by shocks transmitted through the casters in traversing rough floors. The substitution of new pieces of wood for the shattered ones entails considerable expense and has to be done re peatedly.` lt is not unusual, in factories usingr wooden racks,`to iind at any time, many racks standing aside awaiting repair. The space required for even'teniporary storage or' damaged racks is an important consideration also. In accordance with my in-` vention the lower portion of a rack injured in this manner will be eut othleaving only the nest of corner vertieals and shelves, or what I have above designated as the tillen A metal frame, such as I have shown, will then be built of such dimensions as to t snugly around the nest oi'fwooden shelves and the connecting` member 82 will complete a rigid metallic. frame or cage within which the wooden filler will be confined. lt is thus possible to obtain a rack which is better than the old one at the price of the steel frame only. The loss caused by the continual repair and ultimate throwing` away ol' damaged wooden racks, portions ot which are usuable in this manner, thus avoided and a. rack is secured which is almost indestructible and will last many times as long as the original wooden rack. y

Having described my invention and shown how it may be practiced, what l vclaim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

l. ln a shoe rack, a metallic fra-me comprising a base and npstanding end portions and metallic bracing for said parts including a combined strut and tie member rigidly connecting said end portions near their upper ends whereby said frame is rendered completely rigid and selfsupporting and a Wooden filler mounted in the frame, said -trame comprising frame members one or more or' which is positioned directly in the path or' movement of the liller from normal position in any direction to obstruct such movement irrespective oi' bonding between the ltrame and the ller.

2. In a shoe rack, a meta-l base trame having upstanding verticals at its corners formed of angle iron with Vtheir concave laces turned` inward, metallic bracing Ator said ,base and verticals including a combined strut and tie member rigidly kinterc mnect ing said verticals near their upper ends `whereby a rigidly selsupporting' metal Jframe is produced, and a filler having corner portions nested within the concavities olf.

said angles and confined irremovably therein without bonding to the frame.

'ln a shoe rack shelf, a member having a slet-receiving seatand an acute angled rabbet, a removable slat retainer seated in the rabbet, and a latch constructed and arranged to prevent the sliding of said re- `tainer over one face of said rabbet, the acute angle'and latch being constructed and arranged to confine the retainer' against movement over the other face of the rabbet.

In a shoe rack, a rigid structure having end frames, two end members for a shelf mounted in said end frames, one of said end members having a socket to receive a dowel, and a third member having a seat corresponding to said lirst named socket, and removably latched to the other end member.

,5. In a shoef rack, the combination with a completely self-supporting metal iframe comprising a rigid metal base having rigidly connected therewith upst-anding metal corner verticals presenting inwardly lacing channels and rigidly interconnected by metal bracing rigidly secured to the ends near the top oi the frame, of a shelf structure comprising interconnected wooden corner verticals supported and nesting in said channels. f

6. ln a shoe rack, the combination with a completely self-supporting metal 'trame comprising a rigid metal base having rigidly counected therewith upstanding metal corner verticals presenting inwardly itacing channels and rigidly interconnected by a metallic combined strut and tie brace memberbetween the` ends near the top of the frame, of wooden shelves supported from said verticals with their corners extending into said channels.

7. In a shoe rack, the combination with a completely self-supporting metal frame comprising a rigid metal base having rigidly connected therewith npstanding metal corner verticals presenting inwardly facing channels and rigidly interconnected Aby metal bracing rigidly connected to the corner verticals near the top of the frame7 of Wooden shelves supported from said very ticals with their corners extending into said channels.

8. ln a shoe rack, a completely self-supporting metal frame comprising a rigid metal base haring rigidly connected there- With end frames each comprising tivo upstanding metal angle bar corner verticals presenting inwardly facing' channels, said end Aframes being rigidly interconnected by a rigid metal brace structure comprising flat members engaging the angle bars of the respective end frames over a substantial vertical extent, whereby the brace structure holds the end frames against relative horizontal and vertical movement, and Wooden shelves supported from said verticals With their corners extending into said channels.

9 ln a shoe rack, the combination with a metal frame comprising a rigid metal base having rigidly connected therewith npstanding metal corner verticaley presenting inwardly facing channels, of a shelf structure comprising interconnected Wooden corner verticals supported and nesting in said channels.

l0. That improvement in the art of inaliing racks Which consists in providing a shelf structure having interconnected Wooden corner verticals, providing a cornpletely self-supporting shelf enclosing'metal frame having rigid upstanding metal corner verticals presenting inwardly facing channels, inserting the shelf structure Within the metal frame with its Wooden verticals supported and nesting in the channels of the metal corner verticals of the metal frame and confining the Wooden verticals in said channels Without bonding the shelf structure to the metal frame.

.ln testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

HARVEY L. GLIDDEN. 

